The Boys Will Be Buzzin: PLL Week 1 Predictions Part 1

Summer is here and that only means one thing (no, it's not baseball). It means the start of the third season of the Premier Lacrosse League. The PLL and MLL have officially merged and we are going to have the best of the best clash on the field this summer.

With the addition of Cannons LC, there will now be eight teams fighting for the coveted Crown. The season kicks off Friday at 7 PM at Gillette stadium. With that being said, let’s get to these predictions.

** The PLL games will be broadcast on the NBC group of networks including Peacock TV which involves a subscription. So I will include next to each game where it can be viewed.**

6/4 7:00 PM ET Cannons LC (+130) vs Redwoods LC (-167) **Peacock TV**

This will be the Cannons’ first game in the PLL and they are looking to start it off right against the Redwoods. The Redwoods did not have the best showing in the bubble, last year in Utah. The biggest struggle they found was at the face-off x. Luckily for them, they drafted the services of top collegiate face-off man TD Ierlan. The Woods also managed to pick up world-class attackman Rob Pannell. On a more somber note, this will be the last season for all time legend Kyle Harrison, and I’m positive that, no matter what team they root for, all lacrosse fans will be cheering him on this season. From the looks of training camp it seems that the Cannons are quickly developing a chemistry and a culture. In an official training camp scrimmage they defeated two-time champion Whipsnakes. Now, as a scrimmage, that can end up not meaning much, but for a team that has only existed for four days they show huge promise. I for one will be keeping a close eye on which players establish themselves as the main producers for this new team. This game is hard to call because it is one team trying to get over their problems from last year, against a team that hasn’t been seen in a game yet. My prediction for this game is that the Cannons come out guns blazing and catch the Redwoods off guard. The Redwoods tout a strong defense but I think the Cannons have some solid pieces that will match up well. This may be seen as a hot take but I am going to ride with it and I hope you do too.

Winner: Cannons (+130)

6/5 5:00 PM ET Whipsnakes LC (-278) vs Chaos LC (+210) **NBCSN**

Here we have the rematch of last year‘s championship game, a contest in which the Whipsnakes emerged victorious. Both teams have added pieces and depth to their rosters. The craziest part about this Whips team is they could have not drafted a single player and still have been the most complete team in the league. They have established themselves as the “villains” of the league, not because they’re bad people, but because they just seem to keep getting better and better. They drafted human highlight reel Ryan Tierney from Hofstra and I’m sure we'll see him on the field soon.. The two bomb shooting and two-man game running Chaos also added some guys that fit their playstyle. They drafted one man by the name of Mac O’ Keefe who only happens to be the NCAA career goals leader, and I think he’ll fit them perfectly. Their team is also going to look a bit different than even they expected. This is because they have a large core of players from Canada who are currently unable to travel to the US due to restrictions and visas. It is likely they will be able to adapt but their team will definitely be lacking some depth to start. I do not expect many surprises in this game, other than that I think that the Whips will continue their dominance from past years. I am taking them to win this game by a few goals to start the season off the way they ended the last one, with a win.

Winner: Whipsnakes (-278)

6/5 7:45 PM ET Archers LC (-215) vs Atlas LC (+165) ** Peacock TV**

There are a lot of unknowns going into this game, mainly on the side of the Atlas. The reason for this being that the bulls are almost an entirely new team. In the first year of the league this team was composed of a lot of long-standing top talent, however, it became apparent that they suffered from “too many cooks in the kitchen”. They are now a young talented team with tremendous potential and I think they will be making a splash this summer. The Archers on the other hand, have stuck to their established roster with only a couple moves. They bring the talent of widely agreed-upon best player in the world, Tom Schreiber, and top young gun in Grant Ament. The Archers have been a historically solid team, and just like all the other teams in the league, I think this will be their best season yet. The reason I am going with the Archers is simply because the Atlas have too many unknowns as of right now. Even as an Atlas fan myself, I am not quite sure what they have to offer. The news out of training camp seems promising as it looks like they are coming together. Despite that, I think that the Archers, with two seasons of chemistry under their belts, will get the job done.

Winner: Archers (-215)

Those are my predictions for the first three games of the weekend. Stay tuned for another blog dropping soon with my predictions for Sunday’s contests. If you like my picks, or disagree with me, let me know on Twitter @t_hohenshelt. Let’s have ourselves a summer and make ourselves some money, responsibly.